SAAIDS Conference 2025: Avuzwa's Blog 5

First day of the conference is complete. It was a very beautiful and productive day. We started at the exhibition hall,where we visited the foundation for professional development(FPD), where it was basically teaching about the courses one can take under health and everything based on it. We also visited the AHF(AIDS HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION) which mostly focuses on HIV,TB and STIs. We played a game and I got a tote bag with goodies after I followed their social media pages. We then had a session where we discussed how we might use AI to increase the rate of HIV testing amongst those who don't know their status. People came up with ideas alone and they were later discussed.

What stood up for us was the idea of having robotic counsellors that can talk to people and provide information about HIV testing and everything - also the idea to develop quiz tests that prompt people to fill in details and give them HIV risk scores as a way to prompt them to test. I think these were good ideas, especially for us the youth,because mostly we use AI for it to diagnose us and help us make decisions. We then opened the conference. We had different speakers,including the Honourable Deputy President Paul Mashatile. I learnt that SA is one of the leading countries with people living with HIV and people who get treatment and PREP. I also learnt that there are different types of PREP,I thought it was only pills that were available. The issue of US PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP cutting funds was brought up and the massive impact it could bring to South Africa in a few years. Mr Nelson Muffuh made a powerful statement that said:" When men change,women become safe and when women are safe,HIV has no place to hide." It is powerful because in most cases, women get HIV after being exposed to the dangers that surround them in the country,dangers that are often done by men.

I personally believe that AIDS can end in 2030,if we all work together. I also think organizations can focus more on rural areas because even though we are getting information,it is not the full information and I think TB should be another path organizations should focus on in the villages because our information regarding TB is very limited,that can then hinder the fight against it .